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Last updated on Tuesday, February 20, 2018
(SALEM) - A Salem man was sentenced to 1,095 days after a fatal hit and run accident during the early morning hours of Jan. 10, 2016 on State Road 56, near Quaker Lane.
The accident killed 70-year-old Mitchell Lovins of Scottsburg. He died of massive trauma to his body after being hit by Derek Deaton's 1995 Chevrolet S-10 pickup.
Deaton was sentenced to 1,095 days in jail and was given credit for 179 days served.
Upon Completion of 242 days of his sentence, Deaton will be released to serve 547 days(410 actual) to Hoosier Hills PACT Community Corrections Day Reporting Program, along with home detention and alcohol monitoring. Upon successful completion of Day Reporting, Deaton will report back to Washington County Jail to serve the rest of his sentence - 306 days(230 actual). Deaton's attorney can petition the court prior to the second phase of incarceration and request a modification, which could result in fewer days in jail.
Police arrested Deaton after receiving a tip about the accident. Deaton pled guilty to leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death, a Level 5 felony, on July 27, 2017.
According to police, Lovins was traveling west on State Road 56 near Quaker Lane when his minivan slid of the roadway. Police say it appears Lovins left his vehicle and started to walk east on State Road 56 when he was struck by Deaton's 1995 Chevrolet pickup.
Police say Deaton and a friend, Olivia Kendall, who had both been drinking according to the probable cause affidavit, were driving to the Scottsburg Waffle House from Slimo's Saloon when their vehicle struck Lovins.
Testimony given at the hearing indicated that Kendall had been dozing, but woke up on impact and asked what they had hit and Deaton told her he'd struck a deer. Instead of going to the Waffle House, Deaton drove to the home he shared with his parents in Canton.
Witness testimony at the sentencing hearing indicated Kendall later began hearing news of a man found dead on State Road 56 around the time she and Deaton had been in the area. She went out to look at Deaton's car and noticed the damage to the windshield and driver's side headlight, damage later called "extensive" an ISP Detective's report. She pieced the events together and reported the incident to the state police.
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